To See the Dawn
by Sammery
Summary: Inspired by the song Skin. Kagome falls gravely ill, what can Inuyasha do to help? InuKag of coarse.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha…damn it!

So, I put a note in my last piece and in my bio about wanted to do a fic about Kagome becoming really ill. I know I should get back to Mixing Wizardry (for the few of you who might actually read that…) but I currently have NO inspiration for that story. I WILL most definitely finish that story up this summer due to my going off to college in the fall and that I will have an utter lack of time to actually write for those first few months. I will somehow force my way through that story if I have to.

Okay, I think that I have bored you all enough so on with the story…

Inspired by Rascal Flatts' song "Skin." NOT A SONG-FIC!

So TrisakAminawn found a major typo that was really kinda funny but kinda ruined the effect I was trying to have. Instead of 'blackness of SLEEP' I wrote 'blackness of SHEEP'. I have corrected it, but it was such a funny and stupid mistake that I now feel the need to tell all of you. I'm know there are other typos but I can't find them right now and that was the only one that was really REALLY bad…so yea that's been fixed. Hope you all enjoy the story, I swear I'll finish it soon. And thanks again to TrisakAminawn for pointing that out to me. Man do I feel stupid.

* * *

**To See the Dawn**

**Sammery

* * *

**

ACHOO! Kagome sneezed for what seemed to be the millionth time that day. Rubbing at her nose irritably with yet another Kleenex, she went back to her earlier train of thought…how to get Inuyasha to let her to leave the feudal era and seek some medical attention in the future.

It had started a few days ago with the feeling of achy limbs, a slight fever, and an itchy throat. She figured it to be the flu and thought that the healer of the village that they were currently in could handle it with herbs. The thing is, she just seemed to be getting worse. Her fever had spiked during the night, causing Inuyasha to damn near strangle the healer who couldn't understand why she wasn't responding to the herbal remedies.

It wasn't just the flu that was worrying her now though. This morning she had lifted the blanket that had been laid across her form to find bruises from days before…weeks before, still covering her legs, angry purple blotches that seemed to be growing larger by the day. She was so shocked by the sight of her legs that a small '_EEEP!_' escaped her lips. She instantly regretted it because Inuyasha, who had just left her side for the first time in days, rushed back into the hut, sword drawn, gazing around with wild eyes, looking for some demon or something he could actually fight to help Kagome.

She brushed it off, telling him that she had just had a bad dream. She didn't want to worry Inuyasha anymore that she knew he was already. He might not show it often, but he cares deeply for their group. They were his friends…his family…his…his _pack_. "I'm alright Inuyasha," Kagome said quietly and as reassuring as her weak voice could handle, "Really…" she emphasized looking between him and The Tetsusaiga, indicating that she wanted him to put it away.

Inuyasha looked hard at her, concern and worry pouring from his eyes, "Well, if you're sure…" He sheathed his sword and sat down at her side. Gently, he grabbed the now dry cloth from her forehead and wet it again in the basin of cool water before gently whipping it around her face, ridding her of the sweat that the fever had caused to break onto her skin. Then, wetting the cloth once more, he placed it carefully back to its original position on her forehead.

Kagome watched in shock as Inuyasha quietly and tenderly perform his small act of kindness. She rarely got to see him behave so kind and gentle to anyone. She wanted to savor every single second of this amazing moment.

"Kagome…" Inuyasha said softly, the ghost of a whisper, his tender tone snapping her out of her reverie. "I think…well, I…" he stumbled around for something to say, to communicate his wishes to Kagome.

"What Inuyasha?" Kagome said, louder now than before and croaking slightly, her throat raw from coughing and lack of use.

Inuyasha looked her dead in the eye and she saw his amber orbs swimming with emotion: compassion, worry, uncertainty, but mostly fear.

'He's scared for me…" Kagome realized.

Inuyasha closed his eyes and grasped her hand, "Maybe…maybe you should go back to your own time." His hands clasped hers tighter and he opened his eyes, "You're not getting any better here and your time had better medicines…they can help you there."

His voice had become strained as he had continued on, Kagome knew that it was a real strike to his pride to admit that someone else could hake care of her better than him. She squeezed his hand, trying to tell him without words that she didn't blame him, that she still trusted him.

"That might be the best idea." She croaked, smiling gently.

Inuyasha tried to smile back but it seemed as though his facial muscles didn't want to cooperate and ended up looking more like a grimace than anything else. He let go of her hand and gasped in shook staring at her hand wear the beginnings of bruises could already be seen forming in the shape of fingers.

Inuyasha shot back against the wall and froze, staring at her hands. "I hurt you…" he said, his voice sounding as though he was on the verge of tears. "I hurt you…I hurt you…" he kept saying over and over, his eyes never leaving her hands.

Kagome stared at her hands, amazed at how quickly they had bruised and how easily. She glanced up at Inuyasha and saw how distraught he was. His face had become so pale that it faded in with his hair as the color drained from his face.

"_I hurt you…I hurt you…" _

His mutterings reached her ears. Her heart clenched at the sound and sight of him. This great, strong warrior, a man who would go to any lengths to protect her, fight any demon…or senile grandfather…was reduce to a simpering mess in the corner of a hut over a few bruises.

"It's not your fault Inuyasha, " Kagome said, making to get up from her position on the futon. "See, " she said removing the blanket from her legs so that Inuyasha could see the bruising that covered her legs. "It just seems to happen so easily now…" she said softly, tears threatening to spill from her eyes as she looked at the horror that her legs had become.

"Kagome…" Inuyasha said in a hushed voice and she realized that he had come back to her side, something that made Kagome feel infinitely better, and looked on in concern at her battered looking form. "How did this happen?" His hands hovered above the bruises on her legs, as though passing his hands over them might somehow remove their presence from her form.

"Oh, Kagome…how…" Inuyasha could think of nothing to say.

Suddenly he pulled her into an incredibly gentle, yet strong hug. Something about him treating her so delicately made her feel so inadequate, so unworthy of his protection and friendship that she just started to cry. She pulled herself against his chest with weak arms, crying into his haori until she finally escaped into the blackness of sleep.

* * *

As Kagome drifted off into dreamland, Inuyasha cradled her to his chest as a mother does her child. As he looked down at his sickly, pale, thin friend and fought back his own tears "Kagome.." he whispered as a few tears finally fought their way out and raced down his face, falling silently onto Kagome's face and mingling with her own tears. 

What was happening to Kagome, to _his_ Kagome. He heard her breathing level out and knew she had entered a deep sleep and would not wake up for a while. 'I need to get her to her time.' Inuyasha decided. But how was he to do that? He couldn't carry her that far without causing her further injury…so how could he get her back to the well?

He heard a laugh filter through the window and he remembered that the world was still going on around him. It hadn't stopped as their little drama had unfolded as it had felt to Inuyasha. He glanced up just in time to see Kirara fly past the window and instantly he knew how he was getting Kagome home.

He lovingly laid Kagome back down on her futon and swiftly, but silently, he raced from the hut, desperate to find Sango and gain use of the cat demon.

* * *

Inuyasha sighed deeply as Kirara made her way silently through the inky night sky, a completely unaware Kagome sleeping away, head placed gently in Inuyasha's lap as he kept vigil over her sleeping form, pleading with whatever God was listening to please, _please_ just let her be okay. 

Trying to explain to Sango why he needed had Kirara proved to be difficult. Sango had raced to the hut, not believing what Inuyasha had said about her friend. She had cried when she saw Kagome. When Inuyasha and the rest of the gang had come in behind her she had launched herself at him, pounding his chest, through streams of tears.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?" She screamed as he just let her punch and pound away at his form. Miroku came up behind her quietly as she began to run out of energy, he gently grabbed her wrists to stop her from beating the motionless Inuyasha. She collapsed into him letting his hold her sobbing form and for once he did not act perverted but just let her cry and he too wished to do for their friend, who, even during all of the commotion, had not woken up.

Shippo slowly made his way up to Kagome, tears streaming down his small chubby cheeks. "Kagome…" His voice wavered. He placed a small hand against her cheek, "Inuyasha's going to take you home, and they'll make you better there." He said with tears, yet much conviction, in his voice. He knew that Inuyasha would never let anything happen to Kagome. She would be back as soon as she was better.

He turned around and walked calmly over to Inuyasha. He jumped up to Inuyasha's shoulder and hugged him around the neck. "It's going to be a while before we see you again…make her better. You will, won't you Inuyasha?" He asked searching Inuyasha's eyes.

Inuyasha shocked them all by embracing Shippo in a crushing hug. "I will, don't you worry brat." He said softly. "Kagome will be back before you know it."

Inuyasha sighed softly as the memory faded back into his mind and he glanced back down at Kagome whose sleep was no longer peaceful but fitful as she kept shifting around, whimpering quietly at the unseen foes of her nightmares.

Inuyasha gathered her up again gently, rubbing gentle circles on her back, making softy shushing sounds, humming a tune from deep in his memory. Kagome stopped fidgeting so much and settled down in his arms, one hand clasping weakly around his haori.

Inuyasha felt a great lump form in his throat as the strong girl he knew so well was reduced to this form that was as weak as a newborn baby. 'Hang in there Kagome…we'll be in your time soon and they'll make you all better. You just gotta hang on…'

* * *

When he finally made it to the modern era, several hours later, far too long for Inuyasha's tastes, he had taken Kagome into the shrine and when she had laid eyes on her daughter's prone figure Mrs. Higurashi had screamed the cry of an anguished mother and rushed to her daughter's side. When Inuyasha finally calmed her down enough to explain the situation, after carefully laying Kagome down on the couch sitting next to it on the floor, never letting go of Kagome's hand and his eyes never leaving her face, her mother insisted on taking her to the hospital. 

Mrs. Higurashi originally hadn't wanted Inuyasha to come with, his demon appendages being difficult to explain, but Inuyasha refused to stay behind, "You trusted me to protect her! I'm not leaving her side until I know that she will be properly taken care of!" He growled, wanting to scream but not for fear of disturbing Kagome's temporarily calm sleep.

Mrs. Higurashi had tears in her eyes as she watched the devotion that Inuyasha had for her daughter. 'Deny it all he wants, he loves her…'

"Alright," she whispered, that misty look still in her eyes, "you're going to need to hide your ears with the cap again, and it would probably be better if you changed into some more…normal…clothes." He looked him up and down, "Some of my husband's things should fit you."

She disappeared upstairs, returning minutes later with bundles of fabrics in her arms, topped with gym shoes and the bright red baseball cap that he had worn on his last excursion into the modern world. "Here," she said, handing him the clothing, "Souta will help you put it on, but you have to go up to his room to change," seeing that he was going to try and argue his way out of leaving Kagome's side, she quickly added, "She'll be fine for the few minutes that it will take you to put those on." She gently laid her hand on Inuyasha's wrist, the one connected to the hand that still clasped Kagome's fragile one. "Go on," she whispered.

Inuyasha gave Kagome a long, hard look before quickly leaning forward and placing a gently kiss on the top of her head, "I'll be right back," he whispered, too soft for anyone else to hear. He then slowly disengaged his hand, seemingly not wanting to release her hand, as though he was the anchor holding her to this plane. With one last wistful gaze, Inuyasha made his way up stairs to put on the odd clothing.

* * *

After many failed attempts Souta finally got Inuyasha successfully into a pair of loose fitting blue jeans and a form fitting red t-shirt. Souta eventually ended up just throwing a pair of black slip-on sandals at Inuyasha when he flat out refused to wear shoes. 

"They're not going to let you in the hospital if you're not wearing shoes, so suck it up if you wanna go with Kagome!" Souta yelled, tears falling from his eyes. His father had died long before Souta had ever had a chance to remember him, and now he felt as though he was loosing his sister as well. She was the one he used to run to in the middle of the night when he woke up with a nightmare. She would just smile at him and let him come into her bed with her, held him while he cried and told her what happened. Every bad memory he had was followed by one of Kagome, doing something to cheer him up and make him feel better.

Lost in his memories Souta missed Inuyasha coming towards him until Inuyasha kneeled in front of him and pulled Souta into a deep, fierce hug.

Inuyasha had begun to look at Souta as the little brother he never had, someone who he could teach things to, someone to whom he could pass on a little bit of himself so that he would never be truly lost.

"She'll be okay…" he whispered, trying to reassure the crying boy as much as he was himself. "She's gotta be…"

* * *

Mrs. Higurashi pulled into the parking lot of the hospital, her sick daughter in the back-seat, with her head resting in the lap of the man she loved. 

He gently grabbed the still unconscious Kagome and carried her, bridal style, into the hospital emergency room. He was over whelmed at once by the sterile smell and the noise of all the people in the waiting room, then by all the orderlies as they rushed around Inuyasha, trying to pull her down unto a gurney so that they could take her away for diagnosis.

At first Inuyasha tightened his grip, why did they want to take his Kagome away? But a look from Kagome's mom told him that they only wanted to help her and he finally relinquished his hold on Kagome and allowed her to be taken away…hopefully not for good…

To Be Continued….

Okay…so I was just going to make this a one-shot…but I kinda got to think point and lost all will to write anymore tonight…besides, its kinda a long chapter anyway so this is just going to be a two-part story…

Alright, talk to you all later, buh bye….


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Inuyasha is not owned by me…cries

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So I had someone read this and they commented on how OOC Inuyasha was being…okay. I know he's not being his usual brash self, but consider the situation. The person that he is closest too is gravely ill; at that point all attitude is thrown to the wind and all the worry come to the front. So just keep that in mind when you read this.

I'm sorry that I didn't get around to writing this sooner. I got caught up in a Naruto frenzy (funny anime, check it out) and ended up writing a story for that anime and then I was in college and sort of just lost track of time to do anything. My sister has been yelling at me about getting back to this story because she wants to find out what happens.

Next, I've never had to deal with a situation like the one I am presenting. It's never happened to me or anyone that I know so if I get some of the details wrong, I'm sorry, just tell me and I will fix it.

Also, Inuyasha does not understand modern technology so keep that in mind during the descriptions that I give since most of them will becoming from his point of view.

So, when I edited the first chapter I posted this note but because my error was so stupid, it bears repeating. I realize that some people are going to skip write to this chapter and not look at the first because they have already read it so I'm going to post this note here too. TrisakAminawn found a major typo that was really kinda funny but kinda ruined the effect I was trying to have. Instead of 'blackness of SLEEP' I wrote 'blackness of SHEEP'. I have corrected it, but it was such a funny and stupid mistake that I now feel the need to tell all of you. I know there are other typos but I can't find them right now and that was the only one that was really REALLY bad…so yea that's been fixed. Hope you all enjoy the story, I swear I'll finish it soon. And thanks again to TrisakAminawn for pointing that out to me. Man do I feel stupid.

This chapter was really hard to write, and you might be able to tell the point at which I really started struggling but I did my best to make this chapter as good as I could.

This chapter is dedicated to my younger sister, look I wrote the damn chapter! Now would you get off my back!?

* * *

**To See the Dawn - Part 2**

**Sammery

* * *

**

It had been hours since Inuyasha had placed Kagome on the gurney. Since then he had been pacing the waiting room over and over again, unable to sit down for longer than a minute at a time. Mrs. Higurashi sat after having filled out many forms, and talking to a seemingly endless stream of nurses and doctors, staring blankly at the floor and Inuyasha's feet whenever his path took him past her. What was happening to her little girl; what was happening to her baby?

Inuyasha meanwhile was currently lost in a torrid stream of memories. From the first time he had laid eyes on Kagome, thinking she was Kikyo, to the first time she 'sat' him, to when they met all their friends, to every battle when he had feared for her life more than any of the others, to that last night in the hut.

He smiled at all the fond memories and winced when he realized how mean he had been to her most of the time. _Why does she keep coming back when I treat her so badly? What wouldn't I give just to have her sit me right now, then I'd know that she was alright? Please Kagome, just be alright! _

He had sat down again, next to Mrs. Higurashi and did something that he had done more of in the last few days than he had in his entire life, he prayed. To whatever God that would take pity on a pathetic half demon, to please hear him and answer his prayer. _Kagome is good and kind. She doesn't deserve something like this. She should be happy and healthy and smiling. _Inuyasha winced remembering all the times that he had been responsible for that bright smile leaving her face. _I'll do anything you want, I'd be a lowly human forever, I'd even give my own life in exchange, just please, _please _let her be okay._

Inuyasha continued his speech to the Gods with such earnest that he didn't realize when the doctor had walked up to them. "Higurashi?" the unfamiliar man in a white coat asked.

"Yes…" Mrs. Higurashi answered standing quickly with Inuyasha right behind her.

"Would you please come with me, you can see your daughter now."

He led them down a maze of sterile white hallways until they reached a darkened white-walled room. He stood next to the door and indicated for Inuyasha and Mrs. Higurashi to go in before him.

Inuyasha quietly followed Mrs. Higurashi into the stark white room, accosted by a somehow even more sterile smell and ears attacked with an incessant beeping. He shook his head once in order to clear it and quickly made his way over to Kagome's side. She had lots of weird looking threads connected to metal boxes where the constant beeping was coming from.

"Kagome…" He whispered, reaching out to touch her, but hesitating, afraid that he might harm the pale girl lying before him, her skin all the paler for the stark white sheets that she was placed upon. He settled for placing his hand gently over her own laying delicately on top of the sheets, careful not to hurt her. He sat down next to the bed, zoned in on Kagome's sleeping face and began softly brushing his thumb along her small hand.

A startled cry from Kagome's mother snapped his thoughts away from Kagome for a second, long enough to notice that Mrs. Higurashi was falling towards the floor and Inuyasha jumped up from his chair and caught her before the doctor had even had time to react.

Inuyasha looked down into the kind woman's face and saw that she was still conscious and seemed to be staring at nothing. Then he heard her mumbling, so soft that even he, with his extra sensitive hearing could barely make it out. "Not her…not again…" Over and over again she repeated this phrase.

"What is it?" He asked the man in the white coat, "What did you say?" He gently picked Mrs. Higurashi up and placed her on the arm chair placed in the corner of the private room, then turned around and faced the man who was responsible for Kagome's mother's catatonic state.

The man looked saddened and very tired. His graying hair was falling into his eyes and his slouching body spoke of increasing fatigue. He quietly walked over to the bed that Kagome laid on and looked at the machines connected to her, examining them for any changes.

"That's any mother's reaction to being told that their child could die…"

Anything the man said after that was lost on Inuyasha. His mind isolated that one word '_die_' and just kept repeating it, flashing Kagome's image at him and screaming that horrible word.

'NO!' Inuyasha's mind screamed at him. This couldn't be happening. Kagome was brave and strong and kind. She couldn't die!

The doctor had continued talking, though Inuyasha had failed to here a word that he said. "What…" Inuyasha squeezed out in an extremely high pitched voice. He took a deep breath and seemed to regain some control over his vocal chords, "What do you mean she is going to die?"

The man sighed and removed his thin black-framed glasses from his eyes and began to wash them on his coat. "I have diagnosed Kagome with leukemia, stage 3."

"Wait…" Inuyasha interrupted, confused as to what exactly was wrong with Kagome. The word 'leukemia' held no barring for him. "What does that mean?"

"Well," the doctor began with a patient tone, like one who is trying to explain why 2 plus 2 equals 4 to a young child, "It means that Kagome has cancer."

Mrs. Higurashi made a choked sound from her chair in the corner and twisted herself into an odd angle, then she went silent again.

The doctor went on, "Kagome's body is not acting properly and is, in effect, attacking itself. There are treatments, chemotherapy and radiation but it that fails we might need to get her a bone marrow donation from her brother. With Kagome in the state that she is…well, I don't know what will happen."

At this point the doctor turned to the machines again and examined their readings, wrote something down on the chart in front of him while Inuyasha resumed his position at her bedside, once again gently holding her hand, fighting off the tears the were filling his eyes.

* * *

Kagome awoke from her deep slumber to a pounding headache. An incessant beeping assaulted her ears and the smell of industrial-grade disinfectant filled her nostrils. _Hospital…I'm in a hospital…Inuyasha must have brought me back to the modern era, _Kagome thought. Her entire body felt sore and she couldn't find the strength within herself to lift her own head. She felt a weight on her right hand and felt a light gusting of air on her arm. She somehow managed to shift her head down enough to see that Inuyasha had retained his bed-side station even in her own modern time. She smiled until she realized that it made the headache worse, so she simply watched him sleep. His brow was deeply furrowed, which she didn't like, and his body seemed even more tense then when he watched over her and their friends when they more often than not, spent the night in the woods.

He began to shift slightly and Kagome knew that soon he would be waking. But for now all was quiet and despite the pain and exhaustion she was mildly content with the present situation.

Inuyasha shifted again, and moaned slightly, his grip on her weak hand tightening and causing her to wince slightly and the contact. His eyes began to flutter a bit and then blinked themselves open, till he was staring into Kagome's open eyes. For a moment that was all that they did, merely gaze into each other's eyes then Inuyasha was standing and gingerly pulling Kagome into a hug, desperate for the contact with his ill Kagome. Kagome merely leaned into the hug, grateful for the strength and comfort that his arms provided her.

* * *

From that point on Kagome began to undergo rigorous chemo and radiation therapy in an attempt to dispel the cancer from her body. Inuyasha soon learned that it was in fact cancer that had taken Kagome's father from them when she was still small, at the time Souta was still a baby, and Kagome's mother now had to stand by and watch another member of her family go through the horrible struggle that a battle against cancer was.

Throughout the treatment Inuyasha only left her time once, while she was in a treatment session Inuyasha went back down the well to tell their friends what was wrong. Miroku shuddered a bit with shock at the news, while Sango gasped out loud, clasping her hand to her face and silent tears began to flow down her face. There was nothing silent about Shippo's tears, he screamed and pounded his little fists against the ground and it was all Inuyasha could do to not succumb to tears as well. Surprising them all, Inuyasha picked the kit up and help Shippo to his shoulder, letting him cry himself to sleep into the fire-rat hoari.

After he made his way back to the modern era, promising to bring their good wishes to Kagome, Inuyasha sat with her everyday, often violating visiting hours but the nurses never asked him to leave, they knew he was going to do no harm.

Inuyasha watched as Kagome got worse, her skin grew paler and sagged off her body and she lost large amounts of weight. The medications caused her to lose almost all appetite and what she did force down could not remain there long. Many times Inuyasha would hold back her hair while Kagome emptied her stomach contents, hair that got thinner everyday.

The first day Kagome woke up and saw tufts of her hair remaining behind her on the pillow, she cried. She didn't consider herself a vain person, and it wasn't her appearance that she was worried about, but rather thought it was a solidifying fact. It was the biggest visual reminder to her that she was sick, she had cancer. Everyone with cancer loses their hair, and now she was officially in that group. She soon decided to have her remaining hair shaved off, "If it's all going to fall out anyway I might as well get it over with." She had said.

Inuyasha comforted her in the only way he knew how, his presence. He couldn't fight off the cancer, though he wanted to. One day when Mrs. Higurashi made him go back to the shrine in order to bathe and change clothes he came back to find Kagome drawing a picture. She looked so small and child-like as he stood in the doorway. His strong Kagome, the girl who never backed down and fought with everything she had for those she loved, was reduced to this heavily weakened form.

With a sigh Inuyasha walked in the now familiar hospital room, "Whatcha doing Kagome?"

Kagome slowly raised her head, most of her actions were slow now, and gave Inuyasha a weak smile, a mere shadow of the one that used to brighten her face, "They brought in a therapist for me today. She told me that I could help with fighting my cancer by visualization." Inuyasha must have shown her a weird look because she gave a strained laugh, "Yea, I thought it was bogus too, but she said that I should picture the cancer cells and all I could think of were these green, radioactive looking blobs. And then she told me to imagine something, some image that makes me feel safe and protected. She said that I need to picture whatever makes me feel safe fitting off the cancer and then she told me to draw a picture of it."

She pushed the paper towards Inuyasha and he grabbed it, though unfinished it was clear what the picture was. An image of him with tetsuiga draw, fighting off the green blobs that Kagome envisioned as her cancer. He smirked a bit and glanced up at Kagome who cheeks held a faint blush, or at least the blush would have been faint had she been healthy but it stood out clearly on her now pale and thin skin. "If I could you know I would Kagome, in a heartbeat."

She smiled, "I know Inuyasha." She was quiet for a moment and then said, "Inuyasha, I want you to promise me something…"

"Anything Kagome." Inuyasha answered instantly.

"Promise me that if I don't make it…"

"You're gonna be fine Kagome. You're gonna get better and well go back to looking for Jewel shards and fighting Naraku…."

"But if I don't…just promise me that you'll be ok, and that you will take care of Shippo, we're the only family he has and he's already lost his once before…just promise me ok…"

Kagome drifted off to sleep as she was so prone to doing now and Inuyasha just stared stunned. He felt tears start to sting at his eyes. He wanted to punch something. He was so helpless, even Kagome was doing something to help fight this cancer, through her image therapy; he just sat there doing nothing. He was actually glad she had fallen asleep before he could answer, because he knew he wouldn't be able to be ok if she was gone. She had taken a life that had been on hold and starting it going again. And not just by awakening him from the spell on the tree, she had fully opened his heart from its cold shell, made him love and care for people other than himself. He could promise about the kit, he would make sure that Shippo would be safe and able to grow to an adult, but he could not promise that he himself would be okay. If Kagome was gone…there was no way he could ever be ok again.

He clenched his fists in the blankets of Kagome's hospital bed. He leaned his head down and felt the tears start to flow. "Please let her get better," he prayed to the gods, "I can't do this. I can't make it without her…" he looked up into her sleeping face, and gently placed his hand against her cheek, "I love her."

He stood up by the head of her bed and gently placed his hand atop her now bald head, and leaned down. With his lips poise just above her forehead he whispered, "I love you Kagome…" and then leaned in the rest of the way to lay his lips to her skin.

XXXXXXXX

I had so many problems with finally writing this chapter that I cannot begin to describe the anger I began to develop for it but I finally got it written and though its not the way I originally wanted it to be I happy with where it ended up, or really that it ended up anywhere at all.

So I thought this would finish the story but it looks like I've got at least one more installment to go. That isn't going to be happening in the next few weeks, I've got finals for college and a bunch of papers to write (which I should be doing now, but no I'm writing fanfiction) so the next bit is going to have to wait a while, but not as long as this bit took…God I hope not, if it takes that long my sister just might kill me.

FUNNY NOTE: I'm typing this in Word, and the spell check keeps wanting to change Shippo to Hippo…I just thought it was funny because Shippo's so little…and hippos…aren't….


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Note: This is the end. It didn't end up quite the way I had envisioned it and a scene that I had really wanted to use was lost because it destroyed the flow, but I will try to use it in another story if it fits.

* * *

**To See the Dawn – Part 3**

* * *

_I can't believe that I'm doing this…_

That thought just kept sounding through Inuyasha's head. This was a huge change…and Inuyasha did not handle change well.

When he had first heard Kagome talk about it, he thought that he finally had a way that he could help Kagome. He might not be able to fight her cancer, but he could do something to ease some of Kagome's added stress and pain.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome's mother prompted softly, gazing on him with her eternally kind eyes, "They're waiting for you."

Inuyasha gulped and slowly stood and followed the unknown women to a black leather chair set up in front of a mirror.

"We don't usually keep the shop open this late," said a woman in about her mid-thirties with a little extra pudge around the middle whose black hair was in a style about 10 years too young for her, "but when Mrs. Higurashi told us about what you wanted to do for Kagome we made an exception."

She smiled kindly at Inuyasha and he gulped again and tried to speak but couldn't force any words through so all he could do was nod as he took his seat, facing the mirror.

His human self stared back at him. You see, Kagome had told him about these programs who made wigs for people like her, who do to some medical condition had lost their hair, and the wigs were made from actual hair that people would donate so it was almost impossible to tell that the hair was not their own. That's when he decided on his next human night, he was going to cut his hair and have a wig made for Kagome from it.

However, it hadn't occurred to him until he stepped into the shop that he had never had his hair cut before in his entire life. _I can face down hundreds of demons at once….how is a stupid hair cut scaring me this much!?_

He took a deep breathe as the stylist began to run a comb through his thick black hair. He watched in the mirror as his long tresses fanned out from his head being pulled by the stylists red comb. _Kagome…this is for you, I may not be able to fight but I will help you feel normal again._

He jumped a bit as the cold water from a squirt bottle hit his neck. He realized that somewhere in the back of his mind the stylist was talking to him but all he could think about was Kagome, in her hospital bed. She was in a sterile room right now, visits were limited and his sensitive nose couldn't handle all the disinfectants he would physically have to put on to visit her so they had been trading notes via her mother.

She had received a bone marrow donation from her brother and the doctors thought that it would take really well. In fact they were bringing her out of the sterile environment in two days, baring any infections.

A tugging on the sides of his head brought him back to reality. The woman placed all his hair in a hair tie at the base of his neck and brought the scissors up to just about the band, "I can't wait until Kagome finds out what you've done for her." The stylist commented before beginning to cut through the thick hair.

Once it was gone Inuyasha was amazed at how light his head felt. He turned his head from side to side, noticing that his hair wasn't even and was not at an angle with the longest in front and at the back almost sheer to the neck. The stylist placed his pony tail of hair into a plastic bag and then began to work on fixing the rest of his hair until finally he ended up with a head of hair looking rather like Souta's.

Kagome's mother and the stylist talked for a moment while Inuyasha tried to wrap his head around his new appearance.

"…the wig will be ready in two days." Inuyasha overheard and smiled; good, it'll be ready for Kagome when she comes out of the clean room.

* * *

She couldn't wait to get out of this room. At least her other room had decorations from all the presents that she had been sent and the drawings she had done in her therapy sessions. And most importantly, leaving here meant that she would be able to see Inuyasha again!

She understood that he couldn't come in the clean room due to his hyper-sensitive nose and the disinfectant but she had missed him at her side, his silent strength and his will for her to get better. She hadn't realized how much she had been leaning on him until now.

She was rolling down the corridors now in a wheelchair, being pushed by a lovely nurse named Seira who has quickly become a great friend. However Kagome was distracted today, so Seira's attempts at conversation were dying shortly after they were begun. Kagome just wanted to see Inuyasha.

The hallway that she has been living in for the past several months now comes into view and Kagome can feel her heart start to race as she nears her room. _Maybe he will be there already waiting for me…_

But being wheeled in, she doesn't see his bright splash of hair. Yes she is very happy to see her mother, brother and grandfather without their needing to wear protective suits but she couldn't help but feel disappointed that the only other person in the room was a short-haired man in a baseball cap.

She gave each of her family a fierce hug, clinging to her brother a little longer, not being able to explain in words how grateful she was for his gift to her. She then tried to move to her bed but was interrupted.

"What, no hug for me?"

Kagome stopped and looked up slowly. It was Inuyasha's voice, she knew that without a doubt, but it had come from the short haired man. And as he lifted his head and revealed his face and she saw his amber eyes, she was stunned. "Inu…Inuyasha?"

She threw herself across the bed at him as he lunged forward to catch her in her awkward jump. She clung to him, breathing him in and letting his strength seep into her. This was all she needed.

"Kagome! What the hell are you doing?" He stammered clumsily, adjusting her body easily so that she was placed on the bed and not hovering strangely above it.

"Well you wanted a hug didn't you?" She said, pulling away now and looking up at his face.

Inuyasha blushed furiously and looked at the ground and resorted to his standard, "Feh," for a response.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome prompted, causing him to look up once more, "What did you do to your hair…oh wait…did Souta accidentally get gum in it, he did that to me once and I wanted to kill him…" she trailed off at the mention of her with hair.

He smiled an odd sort of smile that Kagome didn't understand. "No, he didn't."

He glanced across Kagome's bed at her mother and they shared a knowing look. Her mother darted to the chair in the corner where a white box was placed and brought it over to Kagome's bed.

"Open it Kagome…" Inuyasha softly voiced; a nervous expression on his face.

Hesitatingly Kagome opened the top of the box and saw a swath of black. Confused she reached her hand in and felt…hair?

Then it hit her, the gift, Inuyasha's appearance…he didn't!

Slowly she lifted the gift out of the box. And her hunch was confirmed. On a faceless mannequin head was a wig of black hair, shorter than her hair had been before but would easily pass as her own.

"Oh Inuyasha…" She looked up at him and smiled, tears rolling down her face. She gently ran her hand down the wig.

"Mom, you want to help me put it on?" She asked, smiling her amazingly bright smile, a sight that had been unseen for this long stay in the hospital.

"Sure baby," her mother said picking the wig off the mannequin. Crying herself, she placed Inuyasha's gift onto her daughter's head.

"Inuyasha…" she said looking at him, drawing him closer to her side with her eyes, "I can't tell you how much this means to me. For the first time in a long while now I can look at myself and not be reminded that I'm sick every time I do." She reached out and grabbed his hand and tugged him down so that she could give him another hug.

Placing her mouth by his here she added, "You gave me _me _back. Thank you."

* * *

It wasn't as though she got better immediately. Kagome's recovery took a lot of time. Slowly she began to regain her appetite and look a bit healthier. A month after the transplant she was allowed to return home to the shrine. And with Inuyasha's gift she looked like someone who had just had a bad flu, not an advanced case of cancer.

At home she still had to take many medications but according to the doctors she was progressing almost unnaturally fast. Her graft had taken flawlessly and now was producing cells and building her immune system. One of her doctors told them that she must be a favorite of one of the Gods up in heaven for her to be improving so rapidly. Inuyasha had asked Kaede about it when he had returned to the past to tell their friends about her recovery.

After fielding a bunch of questions about the state of his hair, and a declaration from Sango about how incredibly sweet he had been for doing that, he finally asked Kaede who had responded with the fact that it probably had something to do with her miko powers. They had been unable to fully heal her before because it was she who was sick, therefore her powers were weakened. However with the addition of her brother's bone marrow (which mention of had required a lot of explanation on Inuyasha's part and a lot of 'I don't know ok?') which was pure and healthy, allowed her powers to latch onto that and so could heal her quicker.

"But to be honest I really don't understand much about how this medicine works in Kagome's time," she had added.

Over the next few months Kagome had gotten stronger still and had managed several trips down the well to visit her friends there. Inuyasha never let her strain herself too far, always next to her like another shadow.

Soon Kagome wanted to return down the well and get back to the shards and Naraku, but Inuyasha was hesitant…

"You're always the one who says we waste too much time sitting around and not looking for the shards, and now you're saying that we shouldn't go?" Kagome demanded with a fire in her eyes that he was grateful to see having returned.

However he didn't want to see that fire go out. "Kagome…I sat by your bed, I saw you get sicker and sicker, I saw you get to the border of death…and I don't think I can do that again…"

"We have to collect the shards Inuyasha! I'm the one who broke it, I have to be the one to put it right again!"

"NO!" Inuyasha screamed, grabbing onto Kagome's shoulders and holding them tight. "I can't lose you again, I'm sick of losing the people that I love…"

Kagome looked up into his face shocked. His eyes had been clenched shut when he spoke and he hadn't opened them yet. _Did he just say…?_ She couldn't believe it. He loved her? She had harbored her feelings for so long…and for him to say that he loved her…?

On a bubble of elation her body acted of its own accorded and leaned herself up to press her lips to his.

Inuyasha's eyes popped open. _She's kissing me. Kagome is kissing me…_and then his thought processes turned themselves off and he closed his eyes, leaning into the kiss.

It was chaste but displayed all that it needed to. Slowly separating from each other they couldn't tear away their gazes.

"Kagome, I…"

She saw where he was headed before he got there, "Inuyasha, I know." She interrupted him. "I know that you only want me to be safe, but I have to do this." She pressed further, "Do you think that I could be okay with the fact that the jewel that I shattered is still scattered all over feudal Japan? Or how about how the more time that goes by, the shorter Miroku's life becomes because we haven't yet defeated Naraku?" She turned her gaze to the ground. "We've already wasted enough of Miroku's life caring for mine these past several months. If I get sick again I'll come home ok? I'll take my medicines everyday and not doing anything stupid or rash…but I have to get back there and do what I've been doing! I can't place my own life above anyone else's."

Inuyasha enveloped Kagome in a hug, "You're too damn selfless for your own good you know that?" He sighed, "Alright."

She pulled away a slight bit and stared into his face in mild shock, "But you will take care of yourself you hear me." He ordered, like a father scolding their child, "You take your medicine and you don't strain yourself too hard."

She showed him one of her dazzling smiles and he swore that his knees knocked for a moment, "Inuyasha, you are amazing!" She snuck another kiss from him and blushed at the dazed look that took over his face. "I promise that I will watch after myself!"

"You better!" He said with a slight smile, "Besides, you're too damn stubborn to die…at least you better be!"

She laughed slightly and laid her head on his chest in a hug, "Loving you…" she missed the delighted look on his face at these words, "and with your love, I don't think anything bad could ever happen to me."

In complete contentment they fell asleep that night in each other's arms and the next morning Kagome once again packed her ridiculously stretched out bag and made her way to with Inuyasha to the well to continue their journey hand in hand. With the darkness behind them, all they had to look forward to was the light of the dawn.

* * *

I struggled with this for a while, and I couldn't get the ending quite how I wanted it, but it is done with now and my sister can stop hounding me.

I hope you all enjoyed To See the Dawn!

Buh bye

Sammery


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